Fix You
by x-SystemRestore
Summary: They were both hurt and they both needed to fix their hearts. Why not fix each other's? A collection of Zero x Maria oneshots
1. Chapter 1

**Delicate Soul**

_A series of Zero x Maria oneshot drabbles_

**A/N **_I know 'Zeria' is an unpopular pairing for Vampire Knight, so if you dislike it, just turn back now. If you do enjoy the Zeria pairing, then please read on. _

* * *

She always noticed that pained expression on his face, eye full of distress and hiding behind that usually stoic gaze was hurt.

He was always hurt by _her_, the pureblood princess, Yuuki Kuran. It was plainly obvious that he valued her, treasured her, and was willing to go to great lengths to protect her, but at what cost to him?

Maria could only quietly observe in the background. Yuuki was a pureblood so, she could never raise her voice against someone that was considered royalty in the vampire realm...and Zero -

A soft sigh always escaped her whenever she thought about how cold the man acted towards her whenever she tried to get close. It seemed like he held true to his words that he would never be able to get along with vampires, namely her.

She knew that whenever he looked at her, he would be reminded of Shizuka, the pureblood woman that had left his life in shambles. Not only was she a distant relative to the white haired pureblood, she was also used as a vessel for her when she had first stepped foot into Cross Academy. So of course Zero would have such a negative impression of her.

But still - she wanted to at least try to get closer to the hunter.

* * *

It was snowing. Soft blankets of snow covered the Cross Academy grounds with more still falling from the light gray skies.

Maria walked through the outdoor corridors, occasionally stopping now and then to look out at the various courtyards that were decorated in the white fluffy snow. She twirled her lacy white parasol languidly, shielding herself from the dim sunlight. The other vampires in the Night class could very well easily step outside on a day like this with such little direct sunlight, but unfortunately, Maria was frail. She still felt light headed without her parasol.

As she approached another courtyard, she stopped when she spotted a certain silver haired hunter sitting near one of the fountains.

Maria's breath faltered, her soft lavender eyes widening at the discovery. She quickly kept herself hidden behind a pillar, hiding herself from Zero.

She knew that if she didn't approach him cautiously, he'd probably lash out at her or give her one of his signature cold glares.

Maria nervously twirled her parasol, her head bowed in contemplation as to how she would try and approach him. Curious as to what he was doing, she peeked out.

Zero didn't seem to take notice of her, yet. He was staring towards the direction of the frozen fountain, at the little brown finches that were pecking at the snow covered ground nearby.

He looked calm, perhaps even gentle. An expression that Maria barely witnessed.

She continued to observe him from afar, taking in this other side of the vampire hunter that he barely showed.

Maria saw puffs of his breath escape past his slightly parted lips as he pulled on the scarf that was wrapped around his neck. He pulled it up so that it covered the lower part of his face.

_'He must be cold,' _Maria observed, curiosity tugging at her mind. She wondered what he was doing out here all by himself in the first place. Surely he wouldn't go out of his way to venture outside in this weather just to go bird watching.

The female vampire decided to use this as a conversation starter and started to boldly approach the hunter.

However, as soon as she took several steps towards him, Zero spoke up.

"Do you make it your hobby to follow me around?" he asked, never really turning around to face her.

Maria jumped a little, startled. "U-Uhm," she stammered shyly, caught off-guard.

"Just because I helped you to your dorm that time you collapsed, doesn't mean you could approach me so freely."

There it was. That icy cold personality that Maria had grown to be accustomed to hearing.

"I-I'm sorry," she breathed out, feeling anxiety well up in her chest. "The last thing I want to do is come off as rude..." Maria trailed off slowly when she realized that Zero had not turned around even once to face her.

Her mood turned somber quickly. Her grip on her parasol went cold.

Of course - he would never want to look at her. Maria knew he only had eyes for Yuuki.

Her soft lavender eyes turned to the ground. There was only so many times she could try to chase him, only to be turned down or ignored every time. She felt dejected and the sinking feeling that lingered inside of her stomach only grew.

A cold wind chill blew through the small courtyard and Maria let out an involuntary series of coughs.

Zero turned his attention towards her, giving her sideways glance. He got up from the cold stone bench and stood over her. "Why do you keep coming out in the day time when you know your body can't handle it?" he muttered under his breath.

"Eh? We-Well, I -" Maria squeaked a little when Zero took her up in his arms, taken off-guard. She tightly held onto her parasol with one hand as she used her other hand to cover her mouth, still coughing.

As Zero walked her back to the Moon dorms, Maria glanced up at him quickly, then looked away. She then leaned her head against his chest, closing her eyes and letting out a soft, inaudible sigh at the warmth he provided.

True, Ichiru carried her in the same manner, a long time ago. He was much gentler with her, more soft, kind, and loving towards her. She fell in love with him, but now -

"This is the last time you're going to venture out during the day, alright?"

Maria looked up at Zero and just gave a slight nod.

But now- her feelings for his twin brother, Zero, was growing, perhaps bigger and faster than her feelings for Ichiru had been. With Ichiru, it felt like he was the one that had to save her, but now, she felt like she _had_ to save Zero. She had to save him from being hurt, from Yuuki, from Ichiru, from the other vampires, and from himself.

Despite the fact that Zero acted rougher than Ichiru, he was much more fragile.

Maria leaned in more, placing her hand on his chest as soon as Zero got inside of her dorm room.

Zero felt her hand against his chest. "Don't touch me so freely-"

"It's trembling," Maria whispered, weakly. The last time Zero carried her, Maria could sense the fragments left behind by Ichiru and Shizuka, but now, the only fragment she could focus on was Zero's.

"What are you talking about-?"

"-Your soul. It's trembling," Maria replied, looking up at him.

Zero lowered his lilac eyes and furrowed his brow. He quickly set her down on her bed, trying to get away from her, but she stopped him.

Maria took hold of his dark red necktie, preventing him from leaving.

"She hurt you a lot, didn't she? Yuuki..."

The silver haired man widened his eyes and tried to pull away from her.

But before he could, Maria brought one of her hands up to the back of his head and held him gently as she leaned up to plant a soft kiss on the smooth planes of his cheek.

As she pulled away, she avoided his eyes shyly. "I know you hate me," she whispered under her breath, her voice sounding like she was about to break down in tears. "I know you hate me for what Shizuka did to you and I know - you said you will never trust a vampire, but - if you can trust a pureblood to break your heart, can't you trust me to fix it?"

Zero stood there, bent over slightly as she continued to hold onto his tie. He looked down at her with an impassive gaze. He felt the grip on his tie loosen slowly as he heard her cry quietly. Finally, he pulled away from her and muttered, "you're not thinking straight."

Suddenly Maria lashed out at him. "I am!" she yelled, "I wish you'd stop treating me like someone who doesn't have a heart!"

He didn't know she was capable of showing that kind of emotion. It took him back a little, but he felt his own anger and annoyance bubbling up inside of him.

"Then stop treating me like I'm a replacement for Ichiru."

Maria's breath faltered, stopping at the base of her throat. She looked at him, her lavender eyes widened and still spilling over with tears. "...I-Is that what you took my feelings for? You thought - I was projecting my feelings and thoughts for Ichiru...onto you?"

Zero remained silent.

The young female vampire looked away from him and quickly wiped up her tears. "I-I loved Ichiru. He took care of me when I was ill all the time. He showed me that the world isn't such a cruel place after all." Maria sniffed softly, before continuing. "I won't lie. In the beginning I only saw Ichiru when I saw you, but now - I know you two are completely different people."

The hunter stood there for a while, as if he was taking in everything that she said. He took in a soft inhale of breath, looking as though he was getting ready to say something to her...but he didn't. Instead, he walked away from her.

Maria sadly stared at the foot of her bed, wanting at least some sort of response from him instead of being shut out again. Her hands tightly gripped the fuzzy edge of her long winter coat, her nails digging into the soft fur.

However, just before Zero left her room, his hand lingered on the door knob.

"Yuuki never broke my heart. I never gave it to her to begin with."

Maria looked at him as he exited her room. As soon as the door lock clicked shut, she looked back down at her hands again and saw the tension from them was gone. Her lips turned into a little smile and she whispered with a slight dry laugh, "what a terrible liar you are, Mister Hunter." Maria wiped away the last of her tears from her eyes.

* * *

**A/N **_Just a slow start because I want to put some sort of "understanding" to the Zero x Maria pairing._

_This story won't be connected chapter by chapter, but there will be some sort of continuity between each one._

_Anyways, hope you Zeria fans enjoy! I notice that there aren't a lot of fanfics for this pairing (thatarewellwritten), so the more the merrier I suppose._


	2. These Warm Hands

**These Warm Hands **

* * *

Maria held her mittened hands together tightly. It was still bitterly cold with this lingering winter storm. All of Cross Academy was blanketed in snow. Although it was beautiful during the daytime, it only made the cold nights even colder, much to Maria's chagrin.

The young female lowered her lavender eyes down to her book, not really listening to the teacher, continuously trying to puff out hot air from her mouth onto her hands. Of course, this failed to warm her up properly since she couldn't blow out too much air without straining her weak lungs.

"Alright," the teacher said, setting down his book on the front podium, "break time. Be back in 15 minutes. Don't be late."

Maria accidentally breathed out too hard, letting out a series of coughs afterwards. She muffled herself, coughing into her light pink mittens.

It was no use.

She sighed after her fit of coughing and decided to get some fresh air. Perhaps it would help soothe her now burning throat.

Maria let out a soft whimper when she stepped outside the classroom and into the dark corridors. The rest of the night class students were already outside, from what Maria saw in the windows. All of them seemed to pay no real attention to the bitterly cold winds.

She was doubting herself if she should even try to venture outside if this was how cold the corridors were.

Maria quietly and slowly made her way down the corridor. Her feet shuffled on the floor, dragging on the nicely polished wood floor. As soon as she made her way past the heavy wooden doors that kept her from the outside, Maria let out an audible shudder.

A sudden violent winter wind stirred, hitting her head on.

"Get back into class," she heard a stern voice tell her.

Maria raised her head, already expecting it to be Zero that was standing in front of her. Who else?

"I-It's break time for us," Maria stuttered, already feeling cold.

"Break time's over. The other vampires already went back to class."

"E-Eh?" Maria widened her eyes and looked around at the courtyard, only to see that there really was no one else there. Did she really take that long to get outside?

Zero stared at her shivering at the seemingly never ending snow drifts. He looked away, pulling up his scarf further up to cover up the lower part of his face. "Why did you even come outside? You were already so cold in the classroom."

"I thought the cold air would help my throat..."

"You only coughed a lot because you overdid it."

Maria stared at the silvery haired hunter, wondering how he knew so much detail about what she did in the classroom. Surely...it was just coincidence? Or was he-?

"Z-Zero-kun?" she stammered out, partially because of the cold weather and also because she nervous about what she was about to ask him.

"...?"

"H-How did you know that?" Maria breathed out, staring up at him with her wide eyes. "Were you...watching me?"

Zero didn't answer her for a while, but then he muttered, "I was watching the night class. It's my job as a prefect."

Her breath faltered a little and she felt her heart beating faster. Was he really watching her? Maria continued staring at him, trying to see some sort of emotion in his lilac eyes.

The hunter shot a sideways glance at her and immediately glared, seeing as how she didn't bother to move an inch and she was still standing there shivering and holding herself. "I wish you'd be more aware..." he grumbled under his breath as he reached out to grab both of her wrists.

Maria's lips formed a 'O' shape as she saw him take her mittens off and bring her hands up to his lips. He cupped her small hands in his large ones and blew hot air onto them. She felt a blush creep up her neck and slowly spread over her already red, frostbitten cheeks. She was definitely caught off-guard and definitely wasn't expecting anything like this.

He closed his eyes as he continued to warm up her hands.

Even though it was only for a brief second, Maria let out a soft sigh and smiled gently at him. So there was a gentle person underneath all that armor...

Finally, Zero put both of her mittens back on and gave her a little sour glare as he dragged her back to the main building.

"Ah- wait! Z-Zero-kun!" she stuttered as he dragged her by her wrist.

He opened up the heavy wooden doors and practically shoved her back in the building. "Get back to class," he whispered, but just before he could close the door, Maria called out to him.

"Wait! I-" she held a hand to her chest, blushing slightly. "Thank you," she managed to say. Maria flashed him a warm smile. "I just wanted to thank you...for everything, Zero-kun."

He stared at her for a while, before letting out a soft grunt of acknowledgement. Without another word, he shut the door and immediately the corridor went quiet, shutting out the howling wind outside.

Despite the corridor being no less colder than the outside, Maria stood there for a while. She didn't tremble, didn't shiver. She stood there solidly to the ground, her back erect and her posture straight. Finally, she brought both of her mittened hands to her chest and she bowed her head slightly, bringing her lips to the soft fuzz. She closed her eyes and smiled.

There was still warmth left.

"You're not completely damaged, Zero-kun," she whispered.

What an inviting warmth...


	3. Try

**Try**

**A/N **_Wow, so I'm really surprised that there are some people that ship Zeria (and reviewed!) haha. I'm glad. I know Zeria isn't a popular pairing in VK, especially since ZeKi pretty much became canon, but it always kind of bothered me how Yuuki didn't really seem devoted to Zero. But anyways, that's a debate for another day haha. _

_Thank you for enjoying this fic. I'll keep writing chapters as long as there's someone reading them. _

* * *

It seemed as though the cold weather was unrelenting. For several weeks now, there was snow on and off throughout the days. Although Maria didn't mind the cold, she knew that there were several people that weren't too fond of the continuous cold weather.

He seemed to be getting paler, even when she thought that it was impossible when his skin was already like white porcelain. Whenever she would languidly look outside during class, she would see him patrolling the snow covered school grounds. He was always wearing that white knit scarf now, bringing it up to cover his mouth as he coughed.

Cross Academy wasn't a small school and she knew that now Yuuki was in the night class, Zero had to act as prefect all by himself. He had a lot more ground to cover and a lot more duties to attend to - and Maria knew that it was taking its toll on his body.

_"Not to mention, he's still damaged because of Yuuki-san..."_ Maria thought sourly, glancing over at the pureblood princess as she sat in the front row of the large classroom. She tried not to lower her lavender eyes in a glare, but she found herself doing so anyways. She didn't know how Zero could remain so passive towards her. Yuuki had _betrayed_ him by leaving with Kaname.

Maria went back to staring out the window again, hoping that the snowy night scene could help alleviate the cloud of anger that was starting to fog up her mind.

It was then that she saw Zero down below, once again making his rounds.

She saw him stop suddenly, bring his hands to his mouth and cough. After his fit of coughing, she saw him walk off to the side of the walkway and lean up against one of the tall oak trees. It was a little harder to see him from her viewpoint with the trees in her way, she could see him loosen his scarf slightly and bring up one of his hands up to his forehead.

Maria desperately wanted to go out to him. He finally pushed himself off the tree and stood up straight, but she saw that his steps were beginning to waver.

Of course, when does he even find time to sleep? Classes during the day, prefect duties at night...

* * *

As soon as classes were over, Maria grabbed her books and held them tightly to her chest as she practically sprinted out of the classroom. She didn't get very far before her chest pains started and her breaths grew shallow.

Maria ignored the odd glances she received from the rest of the night class students as they passed her in the hallways.

"Maria-san?" she heard Yuuki's voice ask her.

The silver haired girl raised her face to meet the pureblood princess' dark red eyes.

Yuuki looked at her with the look of genuine concern as she touched Maria's shoulder. "Are you okay? You shouldn't push yourself-"

"I-I'm fine!" Maria exclaimed, quickly trying to recover and straighten herself up. She managed a smile. "Thank you, Yuuki-san, but - I'm fine. See?"

"Oh..." Yuuki stepped back a little, giving the other vampire some space. "If you're sure -..."

"Yes! I'm sure!" Maria quickly replied, smiling again. "Thank you for your concern." She was grateful for Yuuki's worrying over her, but she didn't want to dabble around in small talk - not when she wanted to make sure that Zero was okay or not.

The young girl gave a slight bow to Yuuki, bidding her farewell, then walked away. Her pace was fast, but she was sure not to overdo it in a run again. She didn't want Yuuki ending up chaperoning her to her room and confining her there for the sake of her health.

Maria finally made it outside and tightly wrapped her black winter coat tightly around her small body. The wind had died down significantly since last week, but the bitterly cold air remained. Maria attempted to walk around the main school building, hoping that she would run into Zero soon. It was dark, with very little light emitting from the old lamp posts along the snow covered walkways.

"Zero-kun..." she breathed out. She must have rounded the school building at least three times, but didn't see any sign of him. It was still dark, but Maria assumed that it was nearly morning because of the sound of chirping birds in some of the trees.

_"He must've gone back to his dorm..." _

Maria knew that she would be denied access to the Sun dorms, much less the male ones. She let out a soft sigh, wondering if she should just give up. "Zero should be fine," she whispered to herself, slowly turning back towards the Moon dorms. Maria took a couple of steps before she stopped herself.

She knew that wasn't true; not when she saw him coughing so much and looking absolutely frail.

Maria turned back to the direction of the Sun dorms and clenched her fists. Her mind was made. She had to make it inside just to check and see if Zero made it back to his room safely. A thought passed through her mind as she walked.

_"If he's not in his room..." _Maria thought back to how she saw him lean back against the tree earlier on in the night. It looked as though he had a fever with the way he was holding his head. She panicked at the idea that he could be passed out somewhere on the school grounds, in the cold.

She picked up her pace, wishing that no one was in front of the Sun dorms to witness her sneaking in. When she finally did arrive at the Sun dorm's courtyard, she looked around, quietly prodding through the snow and making sure that she wasn't being watched by anyone. It was quiet and deserted.

Maria let out a relieved sigh as she made her way through the courtyard quickly and up to the front steps. As she stepped up, she noticed a pair of footprints in the snow. They looked fresh. This gave her a slight hope that Zero did in fact, make it back to his dorm room safely, but now the only question that remained was - just how _okay_ was he?

Hesitantly, Maria cracked open the door to the male Sun dorms. The oak door squeaked softly as she opened it just enough so that she could poke her head in. Maria surveyed the common area. For the most part, it was dark and quiet. The fire in the fireplace only had a few embers glowing in the pile of ash and the room felt cold.

Quietly, she shut the door behind her and made her way silently through the common area and towards the staircase to the upper floors of the dorm. That was when she realized - she had absolutely no idea just which room was Zero's. At this realization, Maria took her foot off down from the first step and stood there. It wasn't like she had the luxury of guessing; guess wrong and it would make for an awkward encounter with a random male student, guess right and well - it'd probably still be awkward.

_"Maybe I'm worrying too much over nothing..."_ she thought, lowering her head and took her hand off of the handrail of the stairs.

Maria looked around the common area, then at a small white sign that hung near the front doors. She walked over to it, pleased with what she read when she was able to see it.

_'If there are any problems, please report them to your dorm prefect, Zero Kiryuu (Room 204).' _

The female vampire raised an eyebrow when she saw an additional note hastily scribbled on the bottom of the sign in different handwriting.

_'Only if it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.' _

Maria let out a stifled giggle, knowing that it was probably Zero that wrote that last part. She could just imagine Zero angrily brushing off any students that came up to him with his problems - if they had the guts to.

But, now that she knew the room number, Maria headed back over to the staircase and made her way upstairs. Much to her displeasure, the floorboards were squeaky and they seemed to echo with each step she took down the dark hallway. No matter how lightly she stepped, her footsteps sounded like lead bricks being dropped several times.

After a much agonizing walk, Maria arrived in front of her destination.

_"Room 204..." _Maria stared at the silver plated room number that was nailed to the door. She stood there, not sure if she should knock or say something. She came much too far to turn back now.

Anxiety filled her chest as she walked over to the door. Her fist held loosely, she rested her knuckles on the glossy wooden door. Gathering up her courage, Maria knocked on it lightly several times.

There was silence, no response whatsoever. Maria stood there for what seemed like an eternity before the doorknob jiggled and turned. She froze up as the door slowly opened and felt her insides tensing up when she saw Zero.

At first he seemed to be in disbelief that she was even there. His brow was furrowed in a confused daze as he stared at her for a while before Maria finally had to be the one to speak up first.

"Zero-kun, I-"

"What are you doing here?" he quickly cut in. His voice sounded husky and raw, as he let out a cough. "Don't you know you could get expelled for being in the Sun dorms without permission? Much less, the male dorms."

"I only wanted to see if you were okay! I saw you coughing earlier and you looked as though you had a fever and-!"

They both froze when they heard the sound of a door opening and closing at the other end of the hallway.

Zero clicked his tongue in annoyance and grabbed Maria by her wrist, pulling her into his room and shutting the door behind them. They both remained silent as the footsteps approached down the hallway and they waited until the footsteps retreated.

"A-Are you mad at me...?" Maria asked, sensing that she disappointed him...or worse.

"Vampires aren't allowed in the Sun dorms, period," he stated with a glare. "Are you out of your mind? You won't be able to go back to the Moon dorms without being spotted by a day class student." Zero let out a growl under his breath and walked over to the small clock that was on his nightstand. He picked it up and slammed it back down, causing Maria to flinch. "It's already time for the day class students to get ready for morning classes," Zero sighed tiredly. "They'll be running all over the place now."

As if on cue, another pair of hurried footsteps ran down the halls outside.

Maria lowered her head and bit her lower lip, stopping it from trembling. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I've made things more complicated for you."

They remained silent for a while, finally Zero turned back to look at her and felt the slightest feeling of regret in his throat for scolding her so harshly. Zero sat down on the bed and sighed as he held his head, feeling the room spin again.

"Why did you even come here?" he muttered, starting to feel nauseous again.

Maria raised her head. "I-I was worried about you. I saw you doing your rounds earlier on while I was in class and you were coughing so much and you looked like you were really sick. I just thought - you passed out outside or..." she trailed off, seeing him holding his head with one hand and his eyes closed tightly. "...something like that."

She knew he wasn't really listening to her. With his alarmingly pale face and the cold sweat she saw on his face and neck, she knew that his condition was just getting worse.

"Zero-kun...you should lay down." Maria worried walked over to him and made a move to touch his shoulder, only to be weakly swatted away.

"No...I'm fine. I just - need to figure out how to get you out of here without anyone noticing," he breathed out. His chest rose and fell as he tried to control his breathing. The throbbing in his head didn't seem to be getting any better the longer he was sitting up.

"Please, Zero-kun!" Maria cried out sternly. She grabbed him by his shoulders and forcefully made him lie back down on the bed. "You can worry about that in the morning!"

Although his sickness made his reflexes a little slow, Zero still grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. He attempted to get up, but now his movements were sluggish.

Maria watched him and she felt a slight pang of hurt strike her chest. Even in his weakened state, he still kept his defenses up around her. Did he really not trust her that much?

"Zero-kun..." Maria whispered softly, her lavender eyes looking down at him. "Please relax, I beg you. I understand...you hate vampires and I understand that you can't trust any of them, but please understand that I will never do anything to hurt you."

Zero fell back against the bed again, relaxing his neck and shoulders as he stared up at her. "So...you want me to make an exception for you."

The young female vampire didn't know what to say in response. She remained silent, but soon felt that Zero was loosening his grip on her wrist. She widened her eyes and looked down at his hand.

He released her and let his hand fall back on the bed. Zero continued staring straight up at her and he muttered, "you must be well aware of what happened in the past when I trusted vampires." He closed his eyes slowly, feeling the room spin once again. "...So understand where I'm coming from...as...well..."

Maria quietly eased back, seeing that he had fallen asleep. She quickly set him up on the bed so that he was in a comfortable position and she tucked him in. Her hand went up to his forehead, but quickly withdrew it when she felt a burning heat. "He's burning up," she commented worriedly. Maria quickly picked herself up and went into the bathroom.

There, she picked up a white towel and wet it down with cold water in the sink. Holding the wet towel in her hands was bitterly painful, especially with the room being cold as well, but she didn't mind.

"Zero-kun, here-" Maria hurriedly rushed over to his bedside again and placed the folded up towel on his forehead.

He let out a soft sound at the sudden cool sensation, the muscles in his face and neck tensing up, but he quickly relaxed himself.

Maria smiled in relief at the sight of Zero's relaxed state. She gently placed her hand on either side of his face, touching his hot cheeks. "I understand completely," she whispered, "that's why I want to try and fix you."

* * *

_Please review_


	4. Stuck In Reverse

**Stuck In Reverse**

**A/N **_Thank you again for the reviews! I'm honestly really happy to see some people that like Zeria. To answer a question that was left in the reviews, no, I don't really know when this story will end. I honestly have an ending planned for this so it'll go on as long as people are willing to review it. _

* * *

The weather was slowly getting warmer. The snow storm that had plagued the area was now moving away, bringing clear blue skies and slowly melting away the snow around Cross Academy.

Maria made an effort to visit Zero in his dorm room almost every night. She was pleased that his condition was getting progressively better as the days went on.

_"That's good,"_ she thought, smiling as she made her nightly trip to the Sun dorms. In her arms was a small pot bundled up in a red cloth. She placed her bare hands on the cloth and still felt some warmth. She had made a porridge for him earlier on in the evening before she had to go to class. She was worried that it would have cooled off by the time class ended, but luckily for her, it didn't.

The air was still bitterly cold, but -

_"At least the sun's out." _Maria tilted her head back and smiled at the clear night sky. Soon it will get warmer and hopefully soon after, Zero would be back to his job as Cross Academy prefect.

Amidst all her thoughts, Maria could not help but have a small lingering thought in the back of her head. Throughout the course of her taking care of Zero, a small part of her was questioning herself and her actions.

_Why are you doing all of this? _

That little voice inside of her head, her rational side, continuously asked her this everyday she went to Zero's dorm and took care of him.

_It's not like he's going to like you back. It's not like he's going to return your feelings. _

Maria stopped in her tracks, just outside the boys' Sun dorms. She tightly held onto the porridge and tried to force the doubtful thoughts out of her mind.

_Why waste your breath on someone that doesn't even acknowledge you as anything other than a vampire...? _

* * *

"Z-Zero-kun - here."

Maria handed him the small, warm pot, avoiding his eyes as she held it out to him. She glanced at him when he finally did take it from her hands, just to see his reaction. "U-Uhm...I don't know if you like porridge, but I know it's good for colds."

The young girl blushed when he opened the pot and stared at its contents for a while. She quickly added in -

"I-I know that it's probably not as good as the ones you make!" Maria was well-aware of what a decent cook he was and suddenly she was embarrassed for even making something for him. She tightly held her hands in her lap, waiting for his verbal response eagerly and anxiously. "It's also a little cold! So -"

Maria saw him eat a small spoonful.

Finally after a while, Zero muttered, "...it's a little salty."

"Is it really?" Maria exclaimed, worried that Zero lost his appetite at her poor excuse of a porridge. "I-I'm sorry! I should have been more aware of how much salt I was putting into it-!"

Without a word, Zero slowly ate a few more spoonfuls, much to Maria's surprise. She stared at him, looking at his stoic expression in awe. It certainly didn't look like he hated it, but then again, it didn't really look like he liked it all too much either.

"Zero-kun...you don't really have to eat it if you hate it."

He didn't say anything to her.

Eventually, he stopped after eating away half of the porridge.

"Sorry - I'm feeling a little nauseous again..." Zero coughed a little as he set the pot down on the nightstand beside him. He saw Maria's befallen expression as she wrapped the pot back up in the cloth that she brought it there in. He knew that she was probably blaming herself for his nausea.

As Zero slid back underneath his bed sheets, he whispered, "it wasn't the porridge."

"H-huh?"

He avoided her wide, lavender eyes and turned his body so that he was facing away from her. "Don't blame yourself. I've been feeling nauseous this whole day-so...it wasn't your porridge...okay?"

Maria stared at him for a while, then smiled gently. Something inside of her suddenly filled her with a sullen, somber mood. She thought it was doubt - doubt that her efforts of trying to get close to the hunter was all for naught.

"...You don't have to lie for my sake, Zero-kun."

"I wasn't ly-"

"You don't have to lie about liking me either."

Zero widened his eyes, his brow furrowing in confusion as he slowly sat up on the bed again. "What are you talking about?"

Maria couldn't believe herself at blurting out something like that out loud. It was just lingering inside of her head, floating around, tugging at her consciousness, eventually dragging its feet so loudly to the point where she couldn't even ignore it. Her bottom lip quivered as she locked eyes with the hunter, unable to form words as she could only stand there and stammer.

"What makes you think I'm lying to you?" Zero asked incredulously, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

"I-I'm sorry," Maria could only weakly whisper back, "I just accidentally blurted out my thoughts-" She turned away and quickly made her way toward the door, only to stop when Zero spoke once more.

"If I really didn't like you, I wouldn't have even let you continue to come in here."

The female vampire hesitated on opening the door. Her hand rested on the cold metal of the doorknob and her other hand remained over her swiftly beating heart. "I -" She didn't know how to respond to what he said. She felt as if she should respond with joy, but on the other hand - the tone of his voice frightened her.

Zero stared at the back of her head for a while before turning away, suddenly feeling annoyed at her.

"Just go."

Maria sadly lowered her head. She wanted to say something to him- just a few last words, but-

_'...scared - I'm scared of him.' _

Quickly, Maria twisted the doorknob and left his room. She sprinted down the hallway, holding back tears. She didn't know what to do anymore. How could she fall in love with someone that she was fearful of?

Once she made it outside of the Sun dorms, she stumbled and fell forward, falling on her hands and knees. The pot she held fell to the ground with a loud clatter and the moisture from the melting snow was beginning to seep through her black stockings, but she didn't care.

Her shoulders shook as tears formed and seeped out from her closed eyes. Her soft lavender colored hair curtained her face, hiding her tears from the outside world.

"...Why am I scared of you, Zero...?"

* * *

**A/N **_Sorry for the short chapter. I haven't had much time to write, but I promise the next chapter will be longer. _


	5. NOTICE

**NOTICE: **

_Wow, okay. So where do I start? _

_I suppose I should start off with, I'm so sorry to those that thought this was an update. I actually do get email alerts from this story saying that someone had favorited/followed/reviewed it and I've been sinking in this feeling of guilt. This is because I actually don't use this account anymore and I do actually still write fanfics, but mainly for another section and under a different penname. _

_Here's some good news though, _

_I actually do still love the Zero x Maria pairing and I do want to continue this fic still, but I really don't want to use this account anymore. _

_So, I had contemplated on continuing this story on my new fanfiction account, but I thought someone would accuse me of plagiarizing my own story haha. My new fanfiction account is **ZERO-xxx** and I will be posting the first chapter (with a little bit of tweaking) on that account and yes, I WILL be continuing this fanfic on that account. Please don't accuse me of plagiarizing because it's me, myself, and I LOL . _

_Thank you guys again for being such great readers. Your requests have not fallen on deaf ears! _

_Again, please go follow my new account, **ZERO-xxx** and I'll reupload the first chapter soon enough! _


End file.
